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Pathology of a Gaullist Jacques Chirac is, in typically sophisticated French fashion, subtly inferring that French culture reigns supreme amongst the illuminati of high civilisation:
When M Seillière, who is an English-educated steel baron, started a presentation to all 25 EU leaders, President Chirac interrupted to ask why he was speaking in English. M Seillière explained: “I’m going to speak in English because that is the language of business”.
Without saying another word, President Chirac, who lived in the US as a student and speaks fluent English, walked out, followed by his Foreign, Finance and Europe ministers, leaving the 24 other European leaders stunned. They returned only after M Seilière had finished speaking.
I suppose it is always a positive when the children leave the room. Then the grown-ups can talk.
(Hat tip RWDB – J.F. Beck)
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An even (snarkier?) better response would have been that English was the “lingua franca” of business.
or that while English is the languague of business, French is the languague of corruption
Sad to see native speakers of English get the imply/infer distinction so very wrong.
Chirac implied, Waterton and Beck inferred.
sigh.
Hugs,
Shirley Knott
or “…while French is the language of betrayal”.
One can only laugh at such daft behaviour from Chirac. Even Newsnight is having a laugh at their expense.
Did anybody miss Chirac, anyway?
I’ll bet he didn’t go out for Finnish food.
I guess you need to live where I do to appreciate what Chirac did.
In my city, it usually happens like this: you’re in a crowd where French is the least common denominator and a handful of people insist on speaking English out of sheer snobbery.
So even though he is a pretentious twit himself, I say go Chirac (this time)!
Alex: that should be the ‘lowest’ common denominator, not the ‘least’ – the two words carry different meanings and your statement reads with the opposite meaning of what you intend.
What Shirley said – people who get ‘infer’ mixed up with ‘imply’ drive me round the bend.
Marshall’s quip beats the rest for me!
Yes I agree Mike.
Along the lines of Bushes “The French have no word for entreprenership!”
But the word entrepreneur is of French extraction! It comes from the word entreprendre which means “to undertake”. Bush is a buffoon.
RAB, I’m assuming you know that the line is socialist fiction, but not everyone does, so I thought I’d dredge up the link again to remind us how shameful it is that our state media can be so deeply ignorant and bigotted.
It’s not that Snopes is perfect, but some kind of research seems like a good idea before publishing offensive urban legends as fact.
Actually, Bush never said that. Snopes refuted that story nearly 4 years ago, and yet people are still repeating the canard. People who repeat foolish lies drive me round the bend.
You beat me to the Snopes link.
However, it is a good joke.
I heard it as, “In America we have this word, ‘Entrepreneur’.”
I wish Bush had been witty and au fait enough to make that comment.
What’s irritating is, people who keep quoting this imaginary comment think it works against Mr Bush, whereas if he had really said it, it would have gone into the books as a great witticism. Jeeeesh.
Okay, apparently nobody has said it yet: “French is the language of underemployed cheese eating surrender monkeys!”
Okay, apparently nobody has said it yet: “French is the language of underemployed cheese eating surrender monkeys!”
Hey, pst314: people who go round the bend because people repeat historically untrue but still funny jokes are the sort of people who drive ME round the bend. Go out, get a sense of humor, and whack yourself over the head with it.
Speaking old canards, I heard Mr. Chirac once worked for the Vichy goverment as a young man. Perhaps he would have prefered to hear German?
I didn’t say it was unfunny. I said it was a malicious lie. Go out, get yourself a book on how to read, and whack yourself over the head with it.
claude says: But the word entrepreneur is of French extraction! It comes from the word entreprendre which means “to undertake”. Bush is a buffoon.
No, sweetie. It’s not French extraction. It’s French. Actually.
What is the origin of the word ‘buffoon’, Claude?
Mike, do you get the impression that when the BBC has a quiz with “true” and “false” they intend their statement it is true that Bush said it in a non-literal sense? Perhaps there was some irony going on? Or do you think that it was, in fact, a part of a general push to claim that Republican ideas are stupid and worthy only of resistance on all fronts, never of considering? Do you believe that such a policy costs lives?
When people say that BBC’s news service is a joke, they don’t generally mean it in the sense that it isn’t offered up for its truth value. Do you think that Claude understood that he was reminding us of the total lack of culture in much of Europe in its original sense of growth (since, if you unquestioningly accept even the most blatantly false stories of your tribe as an argument that the other tribes are evil and stupid, it seems unlikely that there’s going to be a whole lot of Hegelian dialectic going on)? I mean, it could all be a front, but Occam’s razor suggests that it’s simple bigotry and not to be celebrated by those who do not applaud such.
Mike, Shirley Knott –
That’s wonderful; thanks for your contribution. Now I’m sure you’ve both got a great many matches to count, so why don’t you get right back to it.
Chirac makes a fuss to avoid serious economics discussions and comments about the French news.
http://www.france-echos.com
A selective engineering school destroyed “accidentally” and shops, cars and flats ransacked near the national assembly.
http://www.france-echos.com/actualite.php?cle=8846
Thanks for speaking about France, whichever language you choose.
On the subject of Bush misquotes I came across a number on the net recently that had (rightly or wrongly) been previously attributed to that Lion of The Republican Party J Danforth Quayle.
“We’re going to have the best educated American people in the world” etc.
Yes, Nick M, not long after Bush’s 2000 election victory, I received a bulk e-mail attributing a bunch of Dan Quayle quotes to GWB. Even the memorable ones; the tomato’e’ quote, the “my fellow astronauts” quote and the “bondage between mother and child” quote. Brazen.
Chirac is not a gaullist, he has never resisted the enemy. He was to young during the war to work in Vichy (like president Mitterand did), but he spends his hollydays in Marrakech (Marroco) like many leftist and rightist leaders, who are infact marrocan landlords.
This exit is the one of a bad actor forced out by bad news : economics discussions that he can’t sustain and numerous “accidents”.
For instance, riots reaching the national assembly and a selective ingeneering school distroyed in Mulhouse.
http://www.france-echos.com/actualite.php?cle=8846
http://www.france-echos.com
Thanks for speaking about France, anyway.
Thanks James,
I actually quite like certain aspects of Dubya’s take on the English language. A lot of his critics think that his statement that his opponents “misunderestimated him” is a sign that he’s a moron but I rather like it. It’s a cute neologism. I don’t like him, but it ain’t the diction.
Uain: “Speaking old canards, I heard Mr. Chirac once worked for the Vichy goverment as a young man. Perhaps he would have prefered to hear German?”
He would have been a *very* young man. Under 13, in fact.
I think it was Mitterand who worked for Vichy, though after the war he of course claimed to have worked for the Resistance, as they all did.
Yup, Mitterand. Actually got a medal from Vichy too.
I could say that I owe my existence to the French language. My Russian father learned French in hiis homeland because at the time it was a language of access. A language of access opens the door to aspects of learning not available in one’s native tongue and in his youth, French was just such a language. It isn’t today. English is. End of story. Anyway to cut a long story short in due course my father immigrated to Quebec, married my mother and produced five bilingual French/English) children. One of those languages today, English, is an asset, the other is not. Trust me. Nothing and I repeat nothing is happening of a creative and innovative nature in francophonie. That’s the reality and if Jacques is not aware of that fact then he should find himself another job.
I liked the genuine Bush quote, in reference to the economy, that “over 50% of our exports are sold outside the United States”. I like his take on the language.
Millie – Chirac cannot find himself another job. The day he stops being president of France, he gets arrested for fraud. As president he is immune from prosecution.
Hat tip to Matt O’, John K and Tim –
Verity-
” over 50% of our exports are sold over seas..”
I don’t think GW can be tweaked on this one. In the USA we have Canada and Mexico that share land borders.
Millie — wow, that’s a lot of hate. Glad that you left. Peace out!
Yes, you are right. Mitterand was a minor functionary in the Vichy regime, another example of the ease with which fascists transform themselves into socialists. Chirac was a misguided youth serving a different fascist regime – serving them ice cream and milkshakes, to be exact.
Well, here are a couple of documented ones: “You took an oath to defend our flag and our freedom, and you kept that oath underseas and under fire.” —George W. Bush, addressing war veterans, Washington, D.C., Jan. 10, 2006
“Those who enter the country illegally violate the law.” —George W. Bush, Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 28, 2005
“Wow! Brazil is big.” —George W. Bush, after being shown a map of Brazil by Brazilian president. Nov. 6, 2005
“Listen, I want to thank leaders of the — in the faith — faith-based and community-based community for being here.” —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 6, 2005
What people miss about GWB’s tortured speech and syntax is that people still understand what he means, because it’s plain speaking…
…as opposed to his predecessor, who speaks beautifully, but whose every sentence has to be parsed for its real meaning.
I’d prefer the plain-speaking sort as POTUS, thankee very much.
On the topic of French — of course it’s no longer the language of business (although it once was, hence words like “bureaucracy”).
Business evolves, and business terms need to be added to describe those changing conditions. French is the most stultified (some would say petrified) modern language, and can’t be used anymore.
Incidentally, because of that stasis, French can’t be used anymore as the language of diplomacy either, whereas it once was just that.
Who controls the language controls communication. The French, by insisting on style over substance, and fearing that their beautiful language would be “corrupted” by the influence of other languages, lost their claim to ownership.
Vive le chauvinisme.
Not.
There’s Benoît Duteurtre; a writer of truthful, funny and elegant novels which annoy alot of people who need annoying, and who is, thereby, alone sufficient to make any normal francophone rejoice in their francophonie. (Though he is translated for the non-francophone).
Don’t condemn an entire country just because Chirac is rather irritating. I suppose he was just grand-standing because he thought, almost certainly erroneously, that it would play well back home (the Figaro gave it two unexicited paragraphs yesterday). Politicians are like that , would you believe it? But that’s democracy for you.
Kim – I agree about George Bush’s speech. I think it is endearing – and somehow, through the muddle, the meaning always comes through.
The French threw themselves into a giant snit when people started using the term “email” – pronounced ehmail, of course, but nevertheless offended the delicate ears of the Academy. They tried to force people to substitute the term “couriel”. Big surprise! You can’t dictate terms people use on the internet. Things just take off, with or without the permission of the pedants. So they lost that battle.
French really is the most ossified language. I think it’s sheer envy. They cannot abide the freewheeling nature of English. They just can’t stand that a new term comes up in English and by 10 o’clock the following morning, the entire Anglosphere, including heads of government, is using it.
Whenever I call one of my contacts in France for business, I always try and make a point of speaking French to kick off the conversation but invariably, the other side insists on speaking English, although it is usually greatly appreciated if one tries at least to start by speaking the native tongue, as I try to do. It is plain good manners.
The same goes, I think, in most countries. English is the language of business and this must drive the French nuts, but that is the way the geopolitical/economic cookie has crumbled. Chirac is a buffoon. He is also on the way out.
M Seillière only got to be a “steel baron” because he was educated in English. Tee hee.
Perhaps he was addressing a submariners convention?
These days its sometimes necessary to state the obvious. To these people, for example.
So is Kazakhstan. This may come as a surprise to most people.
Okay I got nothing on this one. I’m not really sure what a community-based community is, though perhaps Bush could tell us.
So is Kazakhstan. This may come as a surprise to most people.
It comes as a surprise to me. But on the other hand, I don’t really care either way.
Of all the europeans I’ve met and known the only ones who could not speak or refused to speak English were the French. Not all the French, mind you, but particularly denizens of Paris not in academics or in corporate business. The only other place I’ve seen similar behavior is with some Quebec-based businesses, where some of the people I’ve dealt with absolutely refused to talk in English despite both of us being quite aware of Canadian bilingual educational requirements.
That being said, it took me three years to reach French II back in school, so I’m no great shakes myself. Can you blame the Romans for not knowing how to speak Frankish? I’m sure the Romans had a term for the Franks along the lines of “cheese eating surrender monkeys”….
I’ve never understood that expression. What’s wrong with eating cheese – particularly French cheese, which is a gift from the gods? And what’s a surrender monkey? How did monkeys get mixed up in France? I don’t get it. There are plenty of mean things to say about the French without flying off the planet.
Mike Lorrey, outside Paris and a couple of other big cities, most people cannot speak English. In the village I lived in – 2,500 people – the doctor spoke moderately good English, but he is unusual in that he takes his vacations in Anglophone countries. And the 10 or 12 British residents spoke English. And a Dutch family spoke English. No one else spoke a word.
In the large supermarket in the nearest town (and this was in a centre where lots of Anglophones owned property) they had one person (an American) who spoke English and she was only there because she was married to a Frenchman. In other words, the fact that she spoke English was incidental to her employment.
It’s a suicidal policy because everyone’s second language these days is English, and the French are in denial. They are becoming more and more constricted – especially as their attitude means they’re way behind in the internet. (Plus the Minitel factor.) And the vast majority of French take their vacations within their own country.
There is no doubt that many french cheeses are great, as are many french wines, etc.
The term was an invention of the scottish “Groundskeeper Willie” on the cartoon show “The Simpsons”, who taught french part-time at Springfield Elementary during a period of budget cuts (and of course Willie hates the french).
If I were to deconstruct it I’d say that the ‘cheese eating’ part is to mock the idea that posessing a sophisticated palate for fine foods and wines makes one civilized. To be civilized means to be civil to your fellow man. The classic french rudeness implies that the French are merely barbarians who know good food.
The ‘surrender’ thing is of course reference to France’s fine, long, and storied military record of losing wars, giving up the ship, collaborating with the enemy, and otherwise sympathizing more with the enemies of the western civilization that the French are the self proclaimed pinnacles of, and I suppose the ‘monkey’ may be a double entendre on French depilatory habits and/or that such folk are simply beneath contempt in a comical way.
The phrase was picked up by republican commentatory Jonah Goldberg in articles in the National Review and has been routinely used by both the New York Post and Fox News reporters (both Rupert Murdoch owned).
I’ll note that in the French language translation of that episode of the Simpsons, they left out the “surrender” part… a bit touchy, are we?
Mike, I think that you’re decontexualising a bit there. Groundskeeper Willie isn’t advocating a different kind of civilized behaviour. He’s the Simpson’s token Scot, and hence an enthusiastic follower of the latest trends in alcoholism and pointless violence. Much is made of his total lack of appreciation for decent food, sanitation, and so on. Obviously, the lack of interest in fighting would also be something that would bother him. I agree that subsequent use of the term may be read in a more civilization-friendly way. Goldberg isn’t offended by the finer things.
Mike Lorrey – The French are very civil and very conservative. They are seldom intentionally rude. (Yes, they knock you off the sidewalk into the gutter when they are walking along four abreast and looking at one another rather than ahead, and don’t even notice, and that’s very irritating, but that is carelessness. Rudeness must be intentional.) Their manners are more old fashioned and courtly than the breezier manners we have in the Anglosphere.
Yes, the “surrender” part is the only thing I understand in that epithet.
“… a bit touchyh are we?” What does that mean? Touchy about what? I have no connections with France. But smart-ass epithets that have no basis in truth are just plain irritating.
I think it was de Gaulle who remarked on the impossibility of governing a nation with more than 1,000 varieties of cheese.
It was indeed de Gaulle, Jonathan. BTW, no post on Malta?